Leveling platform with lift elements and dividers



Nov. 28, 1967 D, REEVES 3,355,167

LEVELING PLATFORM WITH LIFT ELEMENTS AND DIVIDERS Filed Oct. 22, 1965 2Sheets-Sheet 1 Hudson 0. Reeves INVENTOR.

Nov. 28, 1967 H. D. REEVES 3,355,167

LEVELING PLATFORM WI TH LIFT ELEMENTS AND DIVIDERS Filed Oct. 22, 1965 2Sheets-Sheet 2 Fig.5

I //2 I06 42 80 42 F/g. 7

H8 Hudson 0. Reeves v INVENTOR. 44 Y United States Patent Ofiice3,355,167 :LEWELING iRLATFORM WITH LIFT ELEMENTS AND DIVIDERS Hudson D.Reeves, Oxnard, Calif. (127 Vernon Way, Santa Paula, Calif. 93060):Filed'Oct. 22, 1965,8813 No. 500,812 11 Claims. (Cl. 271-61) ABSTRACTOF THE DISCLOSURE The present invention generally relates to a leveling,platform for sheet material such as a stack of paper sheets or the likeand which includes means for elevating .theistack of sheet material atthe corners thereof and-this application discloses an invention that isan improvement on my .prior .copending applications Ser. No.323,282,,filed Nov. 13, 1963, for Wedge-Type Stack Leveling Platform forSheet Material, now Pat. No. 3,239,218,.issued Mar. 8, 1966, and Ser.No. 323,403, .filed ,Nov. 13, 1963 for Leveling Platform for SheetMaterial now Pat. No. 3,239,219, issued March8, 1966.

In the operation of automatic printing presses, the sheets of paper arefed from a stack of sheets and one of the. problems encountered is acondition in which the corners of these .stacks drop badly or at a lowerelevation than the central part of the sheets. This dropping of thecorners is caused from the ink being applied to the sheet in differentplaces on the sheet. The heavier the filmofink being applied, thegreater the increased thickness of the ,paper in that spot. Thus, in astack of .sheets, the center of the stack may be considered solidwhereas the ink film rarely extends to the corners of the sheets andthere is nothing supporting the corners of the sheets and thus, theedges drop. The sheets are usually .stacked in a stack of approximatelythree thousand sheets or more and in this type of stack, it sometimesoccurs that the corners drop as much as an inch and one-half.Accordingly, it is an object of thepresent invention to provide aleveling platform having lift elements orientated at the'corners of thestack so that the corners of the stack which normally drop may beelevated so that the upper sheets of the stack are maintained in planarcondition to facilitate automatic feeding of the sheets from the stack.

In'other instances, a heavy solid or halftone printing might appear notonly in the center of the sheet but could also be printed on the outerportion, or edge of thesheet. In this case, the center would be lowerthan the edges. Inasmuch as the sheets areseparated by air before beingpicked up by the sucker feet and forwarded into the feeder, one wouldnow employ the pile levelers in the center to bring it up level with therest of the pile sothe blowers could now separate the sheetsbringing'them into a position for the forwarding suckers to pick up thetop sheet and forward it into the feeder.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a-levelingplatform having a lift element at each corner thereof in which theliftelements orientated inasingle 3,355,367 Patented Nov. 28, 1967longitudinal casing are actuated by concentric screwthreaded elementshaving actuating knobs attached to one end of each screw-threadedelement and orientated in adjacent relationship to facilitate adjustmentof the lift elements or elevators.

Another problem encountered in the use of ,a platform for supporting astack of sheets is the fact that different size sheets are sometimessupported on the same platform and if the lifting elements areincorporated therein, it sometimes occurs that the lift elements are notorientated at the optimum position in relation to the stack of sheets.Accordingly, it is another object of the present invention to providea-leveling platform including a divider which includes a plurality ofcomponents whichcooperate to form a supporting platform but which areconnected with pins which allow a substantially accordion action ofcontracting and expandingthus enabling the size of the platform-toexpand :or reduce in width so that it will be correlated to the widthofthe stack of sheets.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a levelingplatform having two or more lift element assemblies associated therewithtogether with a divider that may be expanded and contracted withsections thereof being removable and capable of being replaced by a liftelement assembly thereby enabling the areas of the stack of sheetsengaged by a lift element to bevaried so that the stack of sheets can beelevated at a plurality of points along the longitudinal edges thereofif necessary. Also, additional divider elements maybe attached so thatthe over-all widthofthe platform-defined by the divider elements may bevaried thus enabling a relatively wide size range of sheet stacks to besupported on the leveling platform of this invention.

Still another important object of the present invention is-to provide aleveling platform in accordance with the ,recedin ob'ects which is comact in construction 1on D lasting and dependable, simpleto install,operate and adjust and relatively inexpensive to manufacture.

These together with other objects and advantages which will becomesubsequently apparent reside in the details of construction andoperation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, whereinlike numerals refer to likeparts througout, and in which:

FIGURE lisa perspective view of the leveling platform illustrating themanner in which the dividers which constitute part of the platform areinterconnected for lateral expansion and contraction;

FIGURE 2 is a transverse, sectional viewtaken substantially upon a planepassing along section line 2-2 of FIGURE 1 illustrating furtherstructural detailsof the leveling platform;

FIGURE 3 is an exploded groupperspective view of one of the dividersillustrating the manner in whichthe dividers are connected toadjacentdividers or .lift element assemblies for enabling the lateral dimensionsof the leveling platform-to be varied;

FIGURE 4 is a perspective view of one of the lift element assembliesforming a part of the leveling platform;

FIGURE 5 is a detailed sectional view taken substantially upon a planepassing along section line 55 of FIGURE 4 illustrating the structure ofthe operating end of the lift element assembly;

FIGURE 6 is a detailed longitudinal sectional view taken substantiallyu-pona plane passing along-section line-66 of FIGURE 4 illustrating-thestructural details of the other lift element in the lift elementassembly illustrating thev structure thereof;

FIGURE 7 is a transverse, sectional view taken substantially upon aplane passing along section line 77 of FIGURE 5 illustrating furtherstructural details of the invention; and

FIGURE 8 is a perspective view of a mounting screw for the liftelements.

Referring now specifically to the drawings and FIG- URE 1 in particular,the leveling platform of the present invention is generally designatedby the numeral 10 and includes a plurality of dividers 12 which areinterconnected in such a manner to enable lateral expansion andcontraction thereof. The leveling platform 10 also includes a pair of ormore than two leveling units or lift element assemblies 14 which areillustrated as being orientated at the two edges of the levelingplatform 10 but it is pointed out that any of the individual sections ofthe dividers may be removed and a lift element assembly substitutedtherefor.

As illustrated in FIGURES 2 and 3, each of the dividers 12 includes aninverted U-shaped or channelshaped divider section 16 includingdepending legs 18 which are generally parallel to each other and atransversely extending bight portion 20. The plurality of bight portions20 all he in substantially the same horizontal plane to provide asupporting surface for a stack of sheets.

Each end of each depending leg 18 is provided with a plurality oflongitudinally spaced apertures 22 which are aligned with apertures onthe corresponding depending leg for receiving connector pins or rods 24therethrough. The ends of the pins or rods 24 are apertured and receivecotter pins 26 or equivalent fasteners. This construction enablesdetachable assembly of the divider sections 16 and removal of any of thedivider sections 16 when desired by removing the cotter pins 26 in anobvious manner.

Where the divider section 16 is connected to a lift element assembly 14,a different kind of pin 28 is employed which has one end thereofthreaded as at 30 and the other end provided with a cotter pin 32. Theend of the pin 28 having the cotter pin 32 therein is received in one ofthe apertures 22 while the threaded end 30 of the pin 28 isscrew-threadedly engaged in an internally threaded aperture 34 formed ineach wall of the lift element assembly 14 in a manner describedhereinafter. Thus, the lift element assemblies 14 may be mounted at theouter edges of the leveling platform 10 as illustrated in FIGURE 1 ormay be mounted anywhere intermediate the edges of the leveling platform10. Further, the dividers 12 may vary in length in relation to the liftelement assembly 14 with the variation in length being accommodated bythe plurality of apertures 22. The pins 24 and 28 freely slidably extendthrough the apertures 22 to enable the divider section 16 to move from aposition completely laterally expanded as illustrated in FIG- URE 2 to aposition where the outer surfaces of the legs 18 abuttingly engage eachother thereby enabling the lateral dimension of the leveling platform 10to be materially changed by a substantially accordion action by exertinglateral pressure either inwardly or outwardly on the lift elementassemblies 14.

Referring now specifically to FIGURES 4-8, each lift element assembly 14includes an elongated hollow housing or casing having a continuousbottom 42 and continuous walls 44 and 46 in perpendicular relation tothe bottom 42 and in generally parallel relation to each other. Thecenter part of the housing 40 is provided with a closure top wall 48having depending legs 50 lying alongside the legs 44 and being securedthereto as by fasteners 52 or the like thus rigidifying the casing andforming a top surface for the housing or casing 46.

At the actuating end of the casing 40, there is provided a transverseend wall 54 having an aperture 56 extending therthrough. Spaced inwardlyfrom the opposite end of the casing 40 and forming a partial end closurefor the top wall 48 is a transverse partition or end plate 58 having anaperture 60 extending therethrough which is circumferentially spacedfrom an elongated inner actuating rod 62 which also extends through theaperture 56 and is concentrically received within an outer actuating rod64 which is in the form of an externally threaded tubular rod having anelongated threaded area 66. The end of the exterior concentric threadedrod 64 terminates inwardly of the actuating end of the rod 66 and isprovided with a knurled knob 68 secured to the external rod 64 by asetscrew '70 or the like. The actuating end of the rod 60 is alsoprovided with an operating knob 72 which is knurled for ease of rotationwith the knob '72 being secured to the rod 60 by'a setscrew 74. Fixed tothe external rod 64 is a collar 76 which engages the end plate 54 inopposition to the knob 68 for precluding longitudinal movement of theexternal threaded rod or shaft 64 with the collar 76 being retained inposition by a setscrew 78 or the like. The inner rod 64 is provided witha collar 80 secured thereto by a setscrew 82 and engaging the outersurface of the transverse end wall or partition wall 58 as illustratedin FIGURE 6 which enables rotation of the rod 60 but precludes axialmovement thereof. Thus, with the aforedescribed structure, both of therods 60 and 64 may be rotated by rotating their respective knobs and dueto the engagement between the knobs themselves and between knob 68 andthe wall 54 and engagement of collar 56 with wall 54 and collar 80 withwall 58, longitudinal or axial move ment of the rods 60 and 64 isprecluded while rotation thereof is permitted.

The portion of the rod 60 which extends beyond the collar 80 isexternally threaded as at 84 and extends through and is in threadedengagement with a transversely extending wedging or camming member 86that is in the form of an axle and has peripheral sleeves 88 at each endthereof for rolling engagement with the top surface of the bottom member42 and rolling or sliding engagement with the bottom inclined edges 90of a pair of depending legs 92 on a U-shaped lift element or elevatorgenerally designated by numeral 94 and including a generally planarbight portion 96 which will generally be substantially flush with thetop edge of the lift element assembly 14 when in the lowermost position.The end of the lift element or elevator 94 adjacent the partition wall58 is pivotally connected to the casing 40 by a connecting pin or bolt98 having one end thereof threaded as at 100 and the other end thereofslotted as at 102 for receiving an implement for rotating the same suchas a screwdriver blade or the like. Thus, the pivot pin 98 may beremovable for enabling repair or replacement of the component parts ofthe device.

The other end of the casing 40 is provided with a similar lift elementor elevator 104 having a top wall or bight portion 106 and dependinglegs 108 which have an inclined lower edge 110. The lift element 104 ispivoted between the walls 44 and 46 by a pivot pin 112 which is the sameas the pivot pin 98 but the pivot pin 112 is selectively threaded intoone of a plurality of sets of apertures 114 which are transverselyaligned and one of the apertures 114 such as the aperture on the farwall 44 is threaded for receiving the threaded end of the pin 112. AWedging or camming element 116 engages the inclined edges of the liftelement 104 and the ends of the wedging element 116 have sleevesrotatable thereon as at 118 for rolling or sliding engagement with theupper surface of the bottom 42 and the inclined surface 110. Thisconstruction enables the longitudinal spacing between the elevators 94and 104 to be varied thus enabling the effective length of the liftelement assembly or leveling assembly 14 to be varied. The wedgingmember 116 may be considered in the form of a roller and islongitudinally adjustable by merely rotating the knob 68. When theactuating wedging device 116 is in its retracted position,

ployed including various linkages, levers, cams, wedges or the likewhich will cause movement of the elevators about their pivotal point ofconnection from a position generally horizontally disposed to anupwardly inclined position for elevating the particular area of thestack of papers with which the li'ft'element 'or elevator is engagedthus leveling the stack of :sheets of paperor the like.

It will be appreciated that the levelingplatform 10 of thepresentinventionrests on a supporting surface which usually is in theform of a substantially solid" supporting plate normally provided'forsupporting the stack of sheets. Also, the"end plate *6as'well as thepartition plate 58 and the center top plate 48 may besecured in place byany type fastener suchas'rivets, or the like which are designated bynumeral 52. Also, the manner of pivotal movement of the elevators orlift elements 94 and 104 may be reversed by removing the pins 98 and 112and inserting them through corresponding aligned apertures in theopposite ends of the lift elements 94 and 104. Thus, the lift elementsmay be pivoted from either end thereof and may be orientated in areverse manner as compared with the illustration of FIGURES 4-8.

By using the reverse operation of the elevators or lift elements 94 and104, the lift elements can quickly be orientated to the desired positionin relation to a stack of sheets and compensate for different sizesheets. Further, the longitudinal adjustment of the lift element orelevator 104 enables the lift element assembly 14 to be used for varioussizes of stacks of sheets. While the lift element assembly 14 has beenillustrated in combination with the divider assembly, it is pointed outthat a third lift element assembly may be incorporated in the middle ofthe divider assembly or any number of lift element assemblies may beutilized as deemed necessary for proper control of the stack of sheets.The leveling platform is supported directly on the pile board whichnormally receives the stack of sheets and eliminates the use of separatewedges which are currently employed in conjunction with the stack ofsheets in an effort to try to level the stack of sheets. Suchindependent wedges are objectionable inasmuch as they become loose anddetached from the sheet and sometimes interfere with normal operation ofthe other mechanism of the automatic press.

The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles ofthe invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes willreadily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limitthe invention to the exact construction and operation shown anddescribed, and accordingly all suitable modifications and equivalentsmay be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention asclaimed.

What is claimed as new is as follows:

1. A leveling unit for a stack of sheet material comprising an elongatedbody for positioning under a stack of sheet material, a pair of spacedelevators mounted on said body for vertical movement between a retractedposition and an extended position, actuating means connected to each ofsaid elevators and operable to move the latter between said retractedand extended positions, said actuating means extending outwardly fromsaid body at the same end thereof and operable independently of eachother and including a pair of handle means orientated in axial alignmentwith each other.

2. The leveling unit as defined in claim 1 wherein said actuating meansincludes a pair of concentric members with the outer member including ahollow rod having a portion of the external surface thereof threaded andthe inner member comprising a rod longer than the hollow rod and havinga portion thereof beyond the hollow rod externally threaded, said handlemeans includes an operating knob connected to each of said hollow rodand said inner rod and "disposed 'in adjacent .relation with ithe knobshaving the same rotational axis forfacilitating controlthereof.

3. The leveling unit as .defined in claim 2 wherein said actuating meansincludes a transverse roller assembly for each elevator, said externallythreaded "hollow rod being threadedly engaged with the roller assemblyadjjacent the operating knobs "and the externally threaded portion ofthe inner rod being 'threadedly engaged with the rollerassembly "for theelevator remotefrom'the op- .erating knobs, each elevator including aninclinedsurfacefor engagement by the roller assemblywhereby'longitudinal movement of the roller assembly will cause verticalmovement of theelevatorsbetween'their extended and retractedpositions,.said body including asupporting surface engaging'the roller.assembly'in opposition to the engagement'between'theelevators and. theroller as- :seniblies thereby forming a'support therefor and relievingthe threaded members ofthefforces exerted onthe elevatorsby saidrollerassemblies.

4. The leveling unit as defined in claim 3 wherein each of saidelevators is pivotally attached to said body, a removable pivot pinsupporting each of the elevators from said body and being removable forpivotally supporting the elevators from the body at either end of theelevators to enable variation in the characteristic of movement of theelevators between their extended and retracted positions.

5. A divider assembly for supporting a stack of sheets between levelingunits comprising a plurality of supporting elements having asubstantially constant vertical dimension, means connecting thesupporting elements together in side-by-side relation and permittinglateral adjustment of the supporting elements in relation to each otherwhereby the effective lateral dimension of a group of supportingelements may be varied between a laterally extended position and alaterally retracted position, each of said supporting elements being inthe form of an inverted U-shaped channel, said means interconnecting thesupporting elements including a plurality of pins extending throughfacing flanges of adjacent pairs of channels and having a longitudinaldimension considerably greater than the aggregate width of the facingflanges of an adjacent pair of channels and loosely received inapertures in the flanges thereby enabling movement of adjacent channelsin relation to each other, said pins including means on the ends thereoffor limiting the movement of the channels in relation to each other.

6. The divider assembly defined in claim 5 wherein the means on the endsof the pins are removable to enable placement of additional supportingelements or removal of supporting elements thereby enabling the minimumand maximum lateral dimension of the divider assembly to be varied.

7. The divider assembly as defined in claim 6 wherein the pins connectedto the outermost flange of the outermost supporting element have one endthereof screw threaded for positive engagement with a leveling unitthereby providing for assembly of the leveling unit and dividerassembly.

8. A leveling platform comprising at least a pair of stack levelingunits and a divider assembly disposed between the leveling units forsupporting an intermediate portion of the stack, each leveling unitincluding an elongated body, said divider assembly including a pluralityof supporting elements having a vertical dimension generally equal tothe vertical dimension of the body for providing support for the stack,means interconnecting the supporting elements with each other andconnecting the leveling units to the outermost supporting element forlateral adjustment of the supporting elements in relation to each otherthereby enabling the distance between the leveling units to be variedfor accommodating stacks of different dimension, each leveling unitincluding a pair of elevators movably mounted thereon for movementbetween a vertically extended and vertically retracted position,actuating means for said elevators for individually moving the elevatorsbetween their extended and retracted positions for enabling selectedportions of the stack to be elevated for leveling the stack.

9. The combination as defined in claim 8 wherein each supporting elementis substantially an inverted U-shaped channel member, said meansinterconnecting the channel members including rods loosely extendingthrough the flanges thereof and having a dimension greater than theaggregate width of two flanges thus enabling the channel members to movelaterally toward and away from each other within the limits of thedimensions of the pins, means on the ends of each pin for retaining thechannel members thereon.

10. The combination as defined in claim 9 wherein the actuating meansfor said elevators includes concentric threaded rod elements with theouter rod being hollow for receiving the inner rod, said rods extendingthrough one end of the body and including adjacent but longitudinallyspaced operating knobs rotatable about a single axis in alignment withthe rotational axis of the rods for enabling individual control of theelevators.

11. The combination as defined in claim 10 wherein each of saidelevators includes a pivotal plate member having depending flangesthereon, and means selectively pivoting one end of each elevator to thebody thereby enabling a selected end of said elevator to be swungupwardly in a vertical direction upon operation of the actuating means.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS Re. 25,825 7/1965 Springer 271611,412,812 4/1922 White 27161 3,239,218 3/1966 Reeves 2716l 3,239,2193/1966 Reeves 27161 ALLEN N. KNOWLES, Primary Examiner.

1. A LEVELING UNIT FOR A STACK OF SHEET MATERIAL COMPRISING AN ELONGATEDBODY FOR POSITIONING UNDER A STACK OF SHEET MATERIAL, A PAIR OF SPACEDELEVATORS MOUNTED ON SAID BODY FOR VERTICAL MOVEMENT BETWEEN A RETRACTEDPOSITION AND AN EXTENDED POSITION, ACTUATING MEANS CONNECTED TO EACH OFSAID ELEVATORS AND OPERABLE TO MOVE THE LATTER BETWEEN SAID RETRACTEDAND EXTENDED POSITIONS, SAID ACTUATING MEANS EXTENDING OUTWARDLY FROMSAID BODY AT THE SAME END THEREOF AND OPERABLE INDEPENDENTLY OF EACHOTHER AND INCLUDING A PAIR OF HANDLE MEANS ORIENTATED IN AXIAL ALIGNMENTWITH EACH OTHER.